A busy week for tobacco harm reduction advocacy with World Vape Day and the E-cigarette Summit. Research supporting vaping. Oregon bans online vape sales. Call to Action updates for Maine and Kansas City. A dubious flavor ban poll and more!
Scroll to the bottom of this post for a link to the audio/video versions of this post!
CALL TO ACTION // Kansas City, Missouri Update
Flavor ban is scheduled for a work session in the Finance, Government, and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, June 6. This committee will meet to consider the ordinance on the following Wednesday, June 9!
READ MORE: Kansas City, MO – Stop a Flavor Ban!
DO MORE: If you live in Missouri, join the CASAA Missouri Facebook Group
CALL TO ACTION // Maine Reminder
LD 1550 is a FULL flavor ban that includes mint, menthol, and wintergreen. CASAA expects this bill to soon move out of the Joint Committee on Health and Human Services to the full House of Representatives!
READ MORE: Maine – Fight a Flavor Ban!
DO MORE: If you live in Maine, join the CASAA Maine Facebook Group
ADVOCACY: WORLD VAPE DAY
World Vape Day is May 30th, and like just about everything else in the vaping community, the celebration is being built from the ground up. This day is all about sharing the truth about vaping, which includes our success with switching! #WVD21 #WorldVapeDay
It's finally happening this Sunday, May 30th! World Vape Day 2021! Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for memes and messages to share, profile frames, video and more. Together, our voices are stronger! Let the world know that you're celebrating safer choices! #WVD21 pic.twitter.com/bAINbUzPqs
— World Vape Day (@worldvapeday) May 22, 2021
READ MORE: CASAA World Vape Day statement
DO MORE: Visit the World Vape Day site for more information on how to participate!
CASAA STATEMENT: Menthol Ban
“Non-coercive, non-judgemental strategies are available to FDA and health officials, today, that don’t involve exposing people to different, more severe risks. It’s time we stop pretending that the most extreme, headline-grabbing interventions are the only ones available, and put the focus back on what people need rather than where we want them to be.”
~ CASAA
READ MORE: CASAA – Think Bigger Than a Menthol Ban
RESEARCH // Truthful Reporting
UK study finds that people who smoke–who get truthful, accurate information about nicotine vaping products–have “the most to gain from accurate e-cigarette perceptions.” More proof that US public health groups need to quit lying!
Take that, Misperceptions!!!
Nice, @OliviaMaynard17 and colleagues–really important work!
Tackling Smoker #Misperceptions about #Ecigarettes using Expert Videos https://t.co/MJ6F4yzyEz
— Joe Gitchell (@jgitchell) May 23, 2021
STUDY LINK: Tackling Smoker Misperceptions about E-cigarettes using Expert Videos
RESEARCH // Effect of Flavor Ban on Teen Smoking
Study finds San Francisco flavor ban “was associated with increased smoking among minor high school students relative to other school districts,” raising concerns that reducing access may motivate youths who would otherwise be vaping to smoke.
San Francisco Flavor Ban Tied to More Teen Smoking.
By Jim McDonald @whycherrywhy https://t.co/ONcZMvuEKg— Vaping360 (@Vaping360) May 27, 2021
READ MORE: San Francisco Flavor Ban Tied to More Teen Smoking
RESEARCH // Effect of Vaping on Youth and Young Adult Smoking
Although completely ignored in reporting, Quebec survey finds (of those under 65 years old) teens and young adults vape the most and smoke the least, while those who smoke the most vape the least. More compelling evidence of vaping DISPLACING smoking.
I guessed that you would dishonestly use present tense & that you wouldn't mention that it's not current or regular use, but use at least once in a 30-day period last year.
I guessed correctly.
— Phil (@phil_w888) May 26, 2021
READ MORE: A New Study Shows Quebec Smoking Trends & Millennials Still Use Cigarettes Over Vapes
STUDY LINK: Consumption of tobacco and vaping products in Quebec in 2020
RESEARCH // Public Health Journal Commentary
US tobacco/nicotine researchers argue to peers “that ignoring the potential benefits of harm reduction strategies may unintentionally lead to an erosion of trust in tobacco control among some members of the public.”
Comment: "A significant proportion of the US tobacco control field continues to be guided by a precept that there is 'no safe tobacco.'"
"…Ignoring potential benefits of harm reduction may lead to an erosion of trust in tobacco control."@FCTCofficialhttps://t.co/BqDt3LTfA9
— Charles A. Gardner, PhD (@ChaunceyGardner) May 24, 2021
STUDY LINK: Tobacco Harm Reduction as a Path to Restore Trust in Tobacco Control
TOBACCO HARM REDUCTION // US E-Cigarette Summit 2021
Marc Gunther reports on the 2021 U.S. E-cigarette Summit, where “scientists and regulators who are open to the idea that e-cigarettes can reduce the harm caused by smoking shared their ideas, their findings and, occasionally, their feelings.”
Sound bites, science and e-cigarettes | My latest for The Great Vape Debate on @Medium
#vaping #tobacco #philanthropyhttps://t.co/0xN77VMAyp— MarcGunther (@MarcGunther) May 28, 2021
READ MORE: The E-Cigarette Summit: “This is just a crazy space right now.”
PUBLIC HEALTH // Exposing Anti-vaping Tactics
Polls can be skewed by “leading questions.” An example of that would be: “There’s a youth vaping epidemic and experts say flavors are a driving factor. Do you support banning flavors?” Considering the source of the poll (an anti-vaping group that hired a PR firm touting its ability to “lead people to hold [our client’s] opinion or vote as [our client] would like”) and until we can see how the questionnaire was actually worded, skepticism of the results isn’t unreasonable.
Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids hires a company that uses "strategies that lead people to choose our client’s product or service, join their organization, hold their opinion, or vote as we would like" to do a poll about flavor bans. Amazingly, the poll results favor flavor bans! pic.twitter.com/yOOXkBoXQQ
— Kristin Noll-Marsh (@Noll_Marsh) May 28, 2021
READ MORE: New poll shows widespread support to ban flavored e-cigarettes and vapes
READ MORE: Ban on flavors such as pina colada in e-cigarettes will take effect from July 2022 (English translation available through Google)
UPDATE: Oregon Online Sales Ban
HB 2261–a bill banning online sales of all nicotine vaping products–which had already passed out of the House with near-unanimous approval, passed out of the Senate on May 26th. It now moves to Gov. Kate Brown for her signature.
Madam Attorney General @ORDOJ If your "no-matter-how-much-proof" rationale is credible, then it is absolutely necessary to "champion" a ban of online alcohol sales, including Oregon wine https://t.co/9rtGPYDUOP
— Brad Rodu (@BradRodu) April 14, 2021
READ MORE: Oregon lawmakers close loophole used for underage purchases of nicotine vapes
TAKE ACTION // CASAA State Facebook Groups
Have you joined your CASAA State Facebook group yet? Check it out now! Click the link below, click on your state on the map, then click the “Join Now” button to go to your state’s group page. It’s as easy as that to stay updated on local happenings, meet local advocates and never miss a Call to Action in your state!
Don’t forget to also follow our official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CASAAmedia
FIND YOUR GROUP: CASAA State Locator
CASAA MEDIA // Podcast
Catch up on past tobacco harm reduction news with Alex and Logan on the CASAA podcasts on SoundCloud every Monday and now live on YouTube and Facebook every Saturday at 3:30 PM.